Wizards GM Will Dawkins On NBA Draft #2 Pick & Washington’s Offseason

Wizards GM Will Dawkins On NBA Draft #2 Pick & Washington’s Offseason

[Music] got to love [Music] it that’s right here he is Will doin GM of the Washington Wizards how did we sucker you into coming in ah it was easy just a quick text message call here I love that for us um okay let’s just get right to the draft second pick second pick in the draft I know it’s a weird one um where are you on exploring options you gonna pick somebody is he gonna be French is he gonna be French I think there’s some French options at the top French options out there uh we’re excited to have the second pick yeah it’s something for us that we know we’re going to get a talented player no matter where you’re at that high up in the draft I know people have said some things about this draft but we’re actually excited about it they have said like you don’t you don’t agree with the I don’t bu draft assessment yeah I think there’s less instant gratification in this draft like you won’t see players in year one year two make that huge jump and impact on the league when you look back two 3 four five years down the line I think you’ll see some pretty high Lev players that are impacting the playoffs like we’re seeing now for real I didn’t look at it like that immediate gratification we kind of the wild Factor might not be there right away but if you can have the plan to take the progress you’ll find some good players wimy ruined it I mean that was like last year you have the number one pick you have a parade this year it’s like it’s like who will be taking there not the go-to guy you guys also have the 26th pick you said the 51st pick yes there’s a kid out there named Brony James everyone’s talking about does does daddy follow him what is is that something they exploring his combine he actually looked kind of nice yeah I would say if his name was Johnny James like the media and fans wouldn’t care as much but he still be on our radar like he’s a guy that did his work in high school was a high school All-American obviously showed a a massive resilience to come back from everything he went through so you didn’t expect him to start the year off the way he did um so he finished the year strong he finishing the combine strong so as a valuators we have to look at him but at the end of the day he’s just like everyone else in this draft process see we’ve been getting into that like he’s saying he’s a Prospect without his dad being LeBron James I’m like I I I don’t think so I think they’re part of that for the Washington Wizards for any other team if you drafted if we can draft him and possibly get LeBron the way he’s still playing it’s obviously a A plus yeah I don’t think we look at it that way I think we’re focused on the player and making sure we add the right pieces to the team and he’s a power five guy who went McDonald game he’s a talented player so we have to look at him just like we’re looking at everybody else well you worked for San prey in Oklahoma City for a really really long time what did you learn about team building about building a culture in Oklahoma City and under Sam under Sam everything um he’s he’s the best of what he does he was took me when I was 21 years old in Seattle kind of raised me through from an intern all the way to um spending close time with him at the top so he’s someone that is a everyday guy um he really believes in people and he makes sure that he puts the pieces in order that make sense not for everybody but for them what works in Oklahoma City and has a lot of patience and treats people well so I’m very fortunate that uh he raised me the way that he did so when you think about it obviously there have been multiple plans to rebuild and and turn that Oklahoma City team and do a championship Contender multiple times how do you this guy to finally come we thought we were going to get it done one of those years didn’t work out I would have L to you know he’s big on cities okay I went to Memphis though he needs money it I would do just fine in Oklahoma City um obviously for you guys how far do you feel you guys are away from contending is there a year-to-year plan threeyear plan like how do you view you guys yeah I I I know this we won’t skip steps we’re not going to put a timeline on it when Michael Winger and I first came in almost a year ago now and met with Mr leonis we talked about kind of what it would take and he granted us the ability to do what we thought was best um when you look at kind of how long rebuilds take we’re kind of in year one this year but we have a lot of players that we have confidence in that could be there moving forward and we have a lot of picks a lot of assets and things we can do so we’re in a good city in Washington DC yeah AB we’re building it up the right way and we won’t Rush that is there a department for slogans for example trust the process so who’s in charge of coming up with that uh we’re hiring for that if you know anyone let me know I feel like that’s a good young position for somebody to have in in the building you have any Nam shoo I’m not a creative Shams is not creative I don’t know and no one up here is creative um why because I know you’re not creative would you say Shams is creative thank you okay silence need to know there proud we had we had Bal kulali on uh I think last week actually and the rumor is he’s the only Untouchable is that true first off you guys tried to trick my guy on on show my bad you know what he was good he he caught it so I give him a lot of credit for that I would say we have a a talented group guys that have gotten better this year we’re going to continue to be opportunistic and look at everything that comes our way if you saw us in the draft last year I think we traded two or three times I think it was so um we we like our crew we’re going to continue adding to that crew that’s the plan so well you started off as an intern I believe in Oklahoma City you worked pretty much every job you can work in the front office in Oklahoma City and now you’re the general manager of an NBA team it’s awesome running day today for you obiously you had a pass two I believe you played basketball Emerson a little bit not very good what what have what do you feel like all these experiences taught you and and and the lessons you learned to bring you to this point right yeah I would say I was very fortunate to uh go Brick by Brick like within the organization started off as an intern then video um doing some behind the bench coaching stuff and then kind of switched to the front office and got to build my way up through evaluation then kind of upper management so I got to understand the job at every level and I think that’s what really benefited me I got to fold the laundry I got to rebound I got to go on the road I got to drive cars take notes so you no job too small exactly so you know what goes into it and you know that it’s all about people and working hard so if I I didn’t have that opportunity if I didn’t go to Emerson College and Hank Smith recommended me to Sam pry who was our college coach that we both shared I probably wouldn’t be in the NBA so I kept that kind of day one Focus from the very beginning the front office Eric spola there you go will one of the first things you did um as GM was was trade Pingas to the Celtics what was the thought process behind that decision and trading yeah so when we walked in we I was probably had the press conference on June 10th as you know the draft is right there and three of our better players at the time we had to make decisions on um Kyle kosma porzingis were potential free agents had options and then with Bradley Beal so what we wanted to do is make sure that we sat down with the players sat down with their reps and made sure we did what was best for them we tried to find a deal that worked for the other team and us and with KP uh as you guys were talking about early on the segment like he’s a big piece for them um so we wanted to make sure we allowed him to go in a position that was best for him that allowed us to go on the track we want to go to see when you make a trade like that though for KP or you think in the back of your head damn I’m making a a really good team even better that I would have to go through or you don’t even look at it like that you can’t look at that you got to look around at the options and find out what’s best for you in return and we like to do good deals that feel good for both teams and I think both teams felt good about that one yeah you mentioned Bradley Beal because then you guys sent him to the Suns but he had the whole no trade thing which was huge and probably very difficult for for guys in your position so how how does that even start what does it look like the process-wise and and are there other teams that he was like absolutely not yeah I wouldn’t say it was um a complication for us I would say once we got there Brad’s great as you guys know um got an opportunity to sit down and find out what was important to him and when we sat down with Brad and had conversation with his representation it was pretty clear the direction we wanted to go and the direction he wanted to go and Brad loves DC was great for everybody there but at this time in his career he probably didn’t make sense for where we wanted to take the team so we looked around found a spot and I think he found a good spot in Phoenix and it’s going to be good moving forward are you shocked they didn’t go further I you don’t have to answer uh we are we are shocked by that what happened again instant gratification doesn’t work year one all the time it really doesn’t you stick with it I think you saw it in the teams that are playing in the playoffs right now in the Western Conference like things take time by the way how about this 30 already get this job and do you have three big ass decisions make your first two weeks on yeah and you got the draft right around the corner sh then you get CP3 in the be trade yes and you bring on you know you trade for Jordan P which raised a lot of eyebrows with all the everything that happened with him in Golden State how did that whole process go down what were you looking forward for that move yeah I think they all look as different trades but it was kind of all one packed in one you got to do the best based on the timing and everything um love CP had him in Oklahoma City he really helped start that wave and really gave SJ that platform to kind of learn how to play point guarding with the ball so knew what he would do um in the environment that we had but I thought at that time it made more sense to try to invest in a young player in Jordan pool who I’m actually excited about um I know he didn’t start the year that he want the way he wanted to but he’s still young still developing and the way he finished the year is what we’re expecting moving forward so for where our team is Jordan was a leader for us and he’s going to continue to be that and a player that’s with us moving forward such a such a weird end for him in Golden State um Kyle kma thought maybe he was going to go to Dallas didn’t move him at trade deadline he said he wanted to stay in Washington DC so does that mean long-term you’re looking at him as as a pillar I would say Kyle’s played his best basketball in DC and the reason why we were able to resign him is when we sat down he said I want to be here I want to be here for what we’re doing and moving forward so obviously trade conversations there’s a lot of iterations that go back and forth I think with that one we ended up doing a first round pick and Daniel Gafford and you feel good when you can call Gaff on the phone and be like hey you’re going close to home it’s a good team it’s a good fit and that’s the deal that made the most sense for us and I think what everything that Dallas did it worked out for them too so we’re happy to have Kyle um he’s already been back in DC a couple times already working leading the group so um it worked out well is he the type of guy that the phone lines are open regardless like I guess the rumor was you guys wanted two first round picks like do are you constantly keeping I don’t want to say price tags but ideas in your mind about this is what we would love to get for you yeah no I think we got some guys that people have value um and when they spend their time and they call you on the phone they’re always thinking of things it goes both ways so we’re we’re always aware of what’s going on but we’re not selling our players or out there price tagging people no that’s not it always a lot of people online are saying that the Wizards are the favorite to land Josh giddy is that someone you would you think fits in what you guys are doing over there you’re not going to catch me on that one the com on another team play uh no well hypothetically atically speaking there we go there we go I I’ll change I got you my Prime Channel’s prime you take over his gym which one of us you’re trading first who can get the most value what age my Prime was 28 my Prime is right now oh God taking I’m taking the humility the guy can de with in the locker every day I’m going with Lou Taylor’s on his way out need humility in the room I can respect that can you no hard feelings ship him to Memphis ship him to memph he loves he loves Memphis by the way do you get an offseason like what do you do do you go on a vacation someone asked me that question the other day and I was like my neighbor actually uh probably not until August probably for you who neighb this he was I think he just wants to spend some quality time so hopefully we can grab a beer and hang out but uh as you guys know June is super busy we’re out here watching some more workouts while I’m out here in La got to get ready for draft season in June and then July’s around the corner with free agency in summer league and potentially hopefully some Olympic action as well so we’ll see how that goes for our guys dude this has been awesome we are so appreciative that you came into the studio bright and early it is bright and early Will Dawkins y’all Will Dawkins we’ll take a quick break we’ll be back more

On today’s episode of ‘Run It Back’ on FanDuel TV LIVE co-hosts Michelle Beadle, Shams Charania, Lou Williams, and Chandler Parsons are joined by Wizards’ General Manager Will Dawkins to discuss the #2 pick in the NBA Draft, Wizards offseason, Bronny James potential, & so much more!

Full Episode: https://youtu.be/Z4fA5-zitnE

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0:00 WILL DAWKINS
0:24 NBA DRAFT
2:24 SAM PRESTI
3:22 WIZARDS FUTURE
6:05 TRADES
8:58 KYLE KUZMA

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